Théâtre de la Vie

The theatre is one of my big loves, although I dislike being in the spotlight.

Brussels has quite a generous theatrical offer. Beside the big theatres everyone has heard of, I was surprised to recently discover a few small theatres, very cosy and good.

Théâtre de la Vie ("The Theatre of Life") is one of them. While waiting in the lobby for the beginning of a play, I couldn't refrain from staring at the rest of the audience. Beautiful people, mostly young, students, dreamers, wearing colourful clothes.

I witnessed there an amazing one-woman show, "Chair(e) de poule". The play was about womanhood in all its facets. The actress, Janie Follet, performed every stunt imaginable on stage: at some point she smashed some eggs with her body and improvised a slide which she used with the joyfulness of a child.

Unfortunately, the play is no longer tête d'affiche. Another hidden jewel I can recommend is Théâtre des Bosons.

P.S. I sincerely dread drama in real life.

On a more romantic note, here is one of my favourite Shakespeare readings ever:

Address for Théâtre de la Vie: rue Traversière, 45 1210 Bruxelles. 

Archiraar

Have you seen the movie "The Cube"? This is how I felt like when I entered the Archiraar gallery.

The owner is an architect. The dazzlingly white walls seem to be closing in on you. And the bright neons enhance the feeling of unrest. 

I recently went to the preview of "Constellations" by Vincent Chenut (by the way, previews are the best occasions to meet interesting-looking people). "Constellations" consists of maps who have been scraped with a scalpel and only few trails of the original maps are visible. 

Brussels is packed with art galleries, but also with people who can afford them. A lot of contemporary art, but also African and 19th century stuff. 

Forget about New York and Paris, Brussels is the new capital of art. 

Address: Rue de la Tulipe 31A